Adams can't deny contributing to fight, court hears

Adams can t deny contributing to fight, court hears - The West Australian

UPDATE 3:55pm: Former WAFL footballer Luke Adams has told a Perth jury he can't remember much of the night he was allegedly attacked and couldn't deny suggestions he had contributed to the fight.

Mr Adams took the witness stand this afternoon on the first day of the three-week trial of 20-year-old Dylan Gerald Wayne Winter, who is fighting a charge of unlawfully causing grievous bodily harm to the former Swan Districts ruckman.

Mr Adams told the jury his last recollection of the night was buying a bottle of vodka from a bottle shop and the next thing could remember was waking up in hospital.

He said he could remember no details of the incident which caused him to hit his head on the ground and suffer life-threatening brain injuries, and as a result could not deny suggestions by defence lawyer Craig Eberhardt that he had started the fight.

Earlier, the jury heard Mr Winter told a friend in a text message the alleged victim "got what he deserved" because he was "mouthing off".

However, the District Court jury was also told that Mr Adams told his friend before the altercation "let's go smash these c...."

The states of mind of both Mr Winter and Mr Adams will be a major focus during the three-week trial.

State prosecutor Amanda Forrester said Mr Winter was involved in a physical altercation with a bouncer earlier in the night outside the Library nightclub after one of his friends was evicted.

The court was told Mr Winter, who was 18 at the time and has no criminal record, does not dispute being the person who punched Mr Adams, but will argue self-defence and that the incident was an accident.

Ms Forrester said Mr Adams was heavily intoxicated and does not remember the events of that night beyond being at The Deen nightclub. His next memory was several weeks later waking up in Royal Perth Hospital, Ms Forrester said.

The prosecutor said Mr Adams was noticeably intoxicated, unsteady on his feet and after he was rushed to hospital his blood alcohol reading was 0.22 per cent.

Ms Forrester said there were multiple versions from witnesses and in some parts their evidence would be conflicting. She said the CCTV camera overlooking the area of the alleged assault was blotted out by car headlights and the events were impossible to see.

She said Mr Winter, who ran away after the incident, told police later that day that he intervened because he wanted to stop a fight developing between Mr Adams and his friend.

He told police that after telling him to back off, Mr Adams then got into his face and said "I'm going to smash you", prompting him because he did not want to be hit first.

She told jurors that in a text message later that day to his best friend's girlfriend who witnessed the incident Mr Winter said that "the guy was mouthing off so he got what he deserved."

Ms Forrester said Mr Winter, who had some martial arts training but denied being any good at it, knew how to punch and knew the ramifications a punch could have. She said the State rejected that Mr Winter felt it necessary to defend himself or that his actions were reasonable. She said the accused could have simply walked away, taking his friend with him.

Ms Forrester said the only friend Mr Adams was with at the time told police that Mr Adams said to him before venturing towards the other group: "let's go smash these c....".

Jurors were told an independent witness would testify that it appeared there was swearing and "egging on" from both sides.

Another witness said they heard Mr Adams or his friend say something like "just break-up" to Mr Winter's friend and girlfriend, who the court told were fighting while walking down the street, before tensions escalated.

Mr Eberhardt asked jurors to give his client a "fair go" and not to make an example of Mr Winter, telling them it was equally important to assess Mr Adams' state of mind.

He said this was not a one-punch attack, a king hit or a bashing, rather it was a "garden variety fight" between two young drunken men.

Mr Eberhardt said when faced with a larger, well-built, aggressive man threatening him, his client made a "split second" decision to defend himself to throw his one and only punch.

The defence lawyer told jurors that when his client had punched a bouncer earlier in the night, it was only after he had been repeatedly hit by the security guard. He said it "beggars belief" that that previous incident could be used by prosecutors to suggest his client had an aggressive or irrational state of mind during the confrontation with Mr Adams.

Judge Stephen Scott urged jurors to ignore any publicity of the high-profile case and to examine the evidence in a calculated and cold fashion.